David Gemmell - Waylander III - Hero In The Shadows

Ren Tang's feral eyes locked to Kysumu's gaze. 'First, human, Qin Chong was not a man. He was, as we are, Riaj-nor. Second, I care nothing for your opinions. We drew lots to see which of us would fight for you humans when the gateway spell began to fail. It is enough that we will fight for you. Do not expect more.'

'It is not important,' said Yu Yu, climbing to his feet. 'I don't care whether they treat me with respect. Qin Chong sent them here to fight. So let them fight.' He looked into Ren Tang's eyes. 'Do you know who you are supposed to fight, and where?'

'You are the pria-shath,' said Ren Tang, contempt in his voice. 'We await your orders.'

'Very well,' said Yu Yu. 'Why don't you take some of your fighters and go outside? There were some enemy warriors out there earlier.'

Ren Tang put on his helmet and tied it below his chin. Taking several of the warriors with him he strode down the tunnel, returning moments later. 'We cannot get out,' he said. The stone door will not budge.'

'Is that right, Buttock Brain?' said Yu Yu. 'One simple order and already you fail.'

For a moment Ren Tang stood stock still. Then his sword flashed into the air, the point hovering over Yu Yu's throat. 'You dare insult me?'

'What insult?' snarled Yu Yu. 'You wait thousands of years and your first act is to draw your sword against the only person who can lead you out of this tomb. What animal did they join you with? A goat?'

Ren Tang snarled. The sword lanced forward. Kysumu's blade blocked it.

A low growl came from Ren Tang, and his eyes glittered in the lantern-light. 'You cannot beat me, human,' he said. 'I could cut out your heart before you could move.'

'Show me,' said Kysumu quietly.

Another warrior stepped from the ranks. 'Enough of this,' he said. 'Ren Tang, put away your sword. You too, human.' He was taller than most of the Riaj-nor and slightly round-shouldered. His armour was the same as that of the others – ornate helm and a torso guard of gold coins – but his ankle-length tunic was of heavy crimson silk. 'I am Song Xiu,' he said, offering a respectful bow to both Kysumu and Yu Yu. He looked at Ren Tang, who stepped back, sheathing his sword.

'Why are you so angry?' Yu Yu asked Ren Tang.

The warrior swung away from him and walked back into the ranks of the Riaj-nor. Song Xiu spoke for him. 'He is angry because yesterday we won a great victory. After all the years of struggle and suffering. We thought it was over, and that we would have a chance to know peace. To rest and lie in the sunshine. To send for the pleasure girls and rut and get drunk. It was a glorious day. But then the black wizard told us that the spell would one day falter, and Qin Chong asked all the Riaj-nor to draw lots to see which of us would leave the world we knew and enter the long sleep. Now we are here, to fight again and die for a cause that is not our own. Ren Tang is not alone in feeling angry, human. We only agreed because Qin Chong said he would lead us. But he is dead. He fought his way across two continents, facing and overcoming dangers you could not possibly imagine. Only to die from a rockfall inside a hollow hill. You expect us to be less than angry?'

Yu Yu shrugged. 'You didn't want to be here. I didn't want to be here. But we are here. So let's leave this place. I need to breathe fresh air.'

Yu Yu strode along the tunnel to the rock door and stretched out his hand. Instead of passing through it his fingers touched solid rock. 'Oh, it just gets better,' muttered Yu Yu. He kicked the stone. Cracks flowed across it. The door shivered and broke, collapsing to the overhang and falling to the trail below. Yu Yu gave a proud grin and swung to Kysumu. 'Nobody told me how to do that,' he said. 'I just did it myself! Good, hey?' Then he stepped out into the light. Kysumu followed him, then the Riaj-nor. The warriors milled around, turning their faces up to the sunlight. Two of them approached the body of the dead Kriaz-nor. One knelt down and dipped his finger in the gaping wound at the warrior's neck. Lifting his hand he licked blood from the finger. 'Recent kill,' he said. Peeling a strip of flesh from the body he put it in his mouth and chewed upon it. Then he spat it out. 'Tastes of fear,' he said.

Kysumu walked away from the group and stood staring into the distance. Yu Yu joined him. 'Are you all right, Rajnee?'

'Look at them, Yu Yu. All my life I have dreamt of being as great as these. And what are they? Part animal, part man – and as vile as those we fight against. I thought to find great heroes. Instead . . .' His voice tailed away.

'They are here,' said Yu Yu. 'They endured a spell that left them dead for centuries, so that they could protect a new generation. Doesn't that make them heroes?'

'How could you understand?' snapped Kysumu.

'Being a ditch-digger, you mean?'

'No, no,' said Kysumu, reaching out and gripping Yu Yu's shoulder. 'There is no dishonour in that. What I meant was that all my life I have denied myself pleasure. No fine foods, strong drink, women, gambling. I possess nothing but my robes, my sword and my sandals. I did this because I believed in the order of the Rajnee. My life had a noble purpose. But it has all been based on a falsehood. To win that war our ancestors merely duplicated the enemy. No honour, no holding to principles. What does that make of my life?'

'You have honour and principles,' said Yu Yu. 'You are a great man. It doesn't matter about the past. You are who you are, regardless of it. When I first began to dig trenches they told us the foundations needed to be four feet deep. When the first earthquake hit, all our new buildings crumbled. Foundations should have been six feet deep, you see. All that digging just to make an unsafe house. But it didn't make me a bad digger. I was a great digger. A legend among diggers,' he added.

At that moment Song Xiu and Ren Tang approached them. 'What are your orders, Pria-shath?' asked the crimson-clad Song Xiu.

'Do you know how to make the gateway stay closed?' asked Yu Yu.

'Of course. The spell was cast using the power of Riaj-nor blades,' said Song Xiu. 'We must assemble at the gateway and hold our swords against it.'

'That is all we have to do?' asked Yu Yu, astonished. 'Just walk up to the gateway and tap it with a sword? We could have done that!'

'It will take more than two,' said Ren Tang.

'How many?' asked Kysumu.

Song Xiu shrugged. 'Ten, twenty, all of them. I do not know. But it will all be for nothing if the gateway is fully open. We must reach it before that event, while it is still blue.'

'Blue?' queried Yu Yu.

'I watched the first spell cast,' said Song Xiu. 'It began with what appeared to be white lightning searing across the opening. Then the colour deepened, becoming at first pale blue like a winter sky, then darker. At the last it was silver, like a sword blade. Then the light faded, the silver turned to grey and we were standing before a wall of solid rock. After the Men of Clay were chosen we were told that as the spell degrades it will flow through the colours in reverse. If it reaches white the spell is finished. If we can restore it to silver the gateway will seal itself.'

'Then we'd better get started,' said Yu Yu.

Eldicar Manushan felt sick. The communion had been more painful than usual but, then, it had been prolonged almost beyond endurance. Yet it was Deresh Karany's torture of Matze Chai that had turned his stomach. The old man had been far tougher than anyone could have expected, considering his effete lifestyle. The boils sprouting on his flesh, the open, cancerous wounds had failed to break him. Blinding head pain had weakened his resolve, the fat maggots chewing upon his wounds bringing him even closer to the edge. But it was the leprosy that had sent him spinning into Deresh Karany's control. The old man was fastidious to the point of obsession. The thought of his own skin decaying and falling away had been too much for him.